Antarctica has long been a subject of curiosity for both the voyagers and explorers because of its inhospitable topography. They endeavor to explore the possibilities of existence of living beings here. In the past, there have been numerous attempts to unearth fossils in the mainland as well as in the surrounding ocean. The Seymour and Vega islands are two destinations where a number of fossils have been found. The first fossil discovery took place in the year 1902-03 by Otto Nordenskjold.
The discovery of the remains of a crocodile and a bird has proved to be an important breakthrough in research efforts towards gathering information about the continent. The fact that these creatures could not have migrated by passing the ocean has led paleontologists to believe in the linkage of the continents of South America and Antarctica by a land bridge millions of years ago.
William Zinsmeister, a leading paleontologist and his team are credited with the discovery of fossilized fish bones. The discovery of these has helped paleontologists across the world to shed light on the events that took place millions of years ago and resulted in the extinction of the dinosaur species. In his analysis, he has stated that these proceedings did not take place instantly but they were in fact a gradual process. In all there have been eight varieties of dinosaurs found in the continent, two of which have been quite recent discoveries. Another exciting discovery was the fossil of a fly. It was believed that the continent did not play host to any type of insect but the specimen leads us to believe otherwise. In addition to the above, a fossil of a whale was also found.
Fossils collected here have adorned museums in several parts of the world and have helped to solve certain unanswered questions over a period of time.
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